KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – A Malaysian court sentenced an Israeli man to seven years in prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to carrying six guns and dozens of bullets, his lawyer said.
Shalom Avitan, 39, was arrested last March at a hotel in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and later charged with unauthorised trafficking and possession of firearms, while a married Malaysian couple was charged with supplying him the weapons.
Authorities said Avitan claimed to be in Malaysia to hunt down another Israeli citizen over a family dispute.
The two countries do not have diplomatic relations, and police investigated his motives and the possibility that he was part of an Israeli crime ring or a spy.
Avitan arrived from the United Arab Emirates on March 12 last year travelling on a French passport, officials said.
He was detained by police at a Kuala Lumpur hotel with the bag of weapons on March 27 and produced an Israeli passport when questioned, they added.
On Wednesday, the Kuala Lumpur sessions court accepted Avitan’s guilty plea and ordered his seven-year sentence to run from the date of his arrest on March 28 last year, his lawyer, Naran Singh, told Reuters.
Avitan will serve his sentence in the Kajang prison on the outskirts of the capital, the lawyer added.
(Reporting by Danial Azhar; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
